Africa can be a funny place. Things here are kind of backwards from the U.S.A. I got on a plane flew to Africa, left the airport, got into a car with way too many people and no seat belts. Not to mention – driving on the wrong side of the road. I was handed thousands of bills of Mozambique money – all in rainbow colors. A bag of rice and beans costs over a 1,000 mts (Mozambique currency). Which is a good deal here, but in my mind, just looking at it I’m like, “What in the world?” Living in Africa, everything is very slow-paced. After living here for over a month, nothing really surprises me anymore. My normal reply to things that people question is simply just “Africa….”
This past week, my scheduled ministry helping teach pre-school was cancelled – due to the much-needed rain. On the first day of the rain, our plumber came. Our toilets had lasted only one day before all three broke at the same time… “Africa.” It’s been about a week at this point, and all 25 of my squad mates and I have been using about four different port-a-potties. I decided to see if my clothes were dry on the line. As I walk out on the covered brick porch in the back, my squad mate Tyler was helping the plumber dig up all the pipes – and they were going to try to find the clog. The pipe had already been leaking waste for days. I checked on my clothes and they were still damp. I looked back at the plumber and Tyler – and felt I need to ask if they needed help (even though it wasn’t my first choice). I stood at the clothesline for a minute, having an inward battle, until I turned and asked. Without hesitation, Tyler said, “YES, please.” From there, I was instructed to wear clothes I wouldn’t mind getting ruined. I went to change and grabbed my teammate Jenny, and the journey of the day began. We grabbed two hoes and began to help Tyler dig up the pipes. Somehow, I got my hands on a pick axe to try to get the dirt on the other side of the pipe. I didn’t realize I’m secretly the Incredible Hulk, and busted a huge hole in the pipe. In my own defense, the plumber had cracked it a few minutes beforehand, and at this point, they were already going to have to replace it.
Once we got the dirt cleared out around the pipes, there was cement that had been poured onto the pipe. Our next goal was to lift this cement blob out. The plumber, his few friends, and Tyler started to separate the cement from the pipe. During this, we realized why that cement had been put there – and the liquid sprayed one of the guys in the face. There was a huge hole in it. It took all four of them to pick it the cement blob out of the hole and onto the brick. All of a sudden, I saw a frog just chilling in the corner of the pipe and without thinking I said, “FROG!” Jenny jumped back – and I remembered she hates frogs. The plumber came over and picked up the frog and took it away. After he moved the frog, the plumber asked Jen why she didn’t like frogs. Later, he ended up nicknaming her “Frog” in Siswati. The rest of the day consisted of replacing all the piping and making more holes in the pipe as we undug them. As we dug them up, they replaced the piping. We got to the very end of the last pipe with five minutes to go as I uncovered it, the pipe leading to the kitchen then suddenly started to run alongside the pipe we were working on. Pick axe in hand already mid swing I see a hint of white. With no time to stop the momentum of my swing I smash into the kitchen pipe. From five more minutes to forty minutes more cleaning up the pipe and trying to duct tape it because that’s the only pipe we didn’t have a replacement for.
Through the whole day, the three of us had a lot of fun conversations with the plumber, and now I’m happy to call him friend. We still see him around as he’s a part of the staff here at the main care point I’m staying at. Through our adventures, I’ve learned a lot about plumbing while also gaining a plethora of cultural knowledge about Swaziland. I’m so blessed I get to build new friendships while growing God’s kingdom. God’s been focusing on building my faith and showing me what it really means to have it. That being through him answering prayers and speaking through my teammates and me. God is so good!!! I want to invite you, if you haven’t already, to come alongside God and partner with Him as I share the good news around the world! I’m still short my goal of $13,000 – and I’m currently around $12,000. Thank you for all your prayers and support. Love you all!!! 
